Welcome to the Macomb   

 Intermediate Federation of

 Paraprofessionals home page.

 

                                      Welcome to our Web site!

                                   This is your one stop site for all information pertaining to your union. Please check back often!!!

Officer and Executive board news:

At the bottom of this page on the right hand side there is
"Find your Senator" and "Find your Representative."
We encourage everyone to use this. It is easy to use and only takes a minute or so.
Please express to them any of your concerns on issues regarding

education in our state and issues concerning your job in education. Do this calmly and professionally. Always be brief. We need your voices!!

                                                                    Links:                                                                                                                                   ______________________________________________________________________

Click here to see and hear Matt Damons amazing speech on public  education!

Click here to see the video "Stop the Lies: Public Service Workers Under Attack"


 Click here to go to the website: Get Money Out!

To "Friend" the AFL/CIO on Facebook click here.

To "Friend" AFT Michigan on Facebook click here.

Please click Here to see a great video on our EFM law and it's impact.


Hi all,

I know you are getting bombarded with questions regarding the retirement bill, SB 1040.

 Below is a hot link to a new analysis of the bill that will answer several of their questions.  Please feel free to forward this to them or print and distribute as you see fit.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2011-SFA-1040-S.pdf

 You may also let our members know that their calls to legislator's offices are having an effect and to keep up the good work.  Also, the committee chair has stated publicly that the July 1, 2012 date will be moved to later in the year and several other  (good) changes are being seriously considered.

 The best advise for members contemplating retirement is to sign up on MI Account (on MPSERS), start filling out their paperwork (it takes some time to complete) and hold it until we know more information.

 It is not time to panic, it is time to call legislators and to plan.

 Thanks and see you Saturday.

Louise

 Suggestions and Questions

If you have any union questions please direct them to your union representative.
If you are not sure who your representative is please e-mail the webmaster.
The webmasters and your officers e-mail addresses
can be found at the bottom of the page. 
If you have any suggestions that would make this website better or more informative please e-mail the webmaster.

Current News and information:

 

Petition Push this Saturday
Volunteers with the Protect Our Jobs (POJ) coalition are out in force and will be conducting a petition signature blitz on Saturday, May 19th between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. This blitz will target at least the following six areas: Mt Clemens, Taylor, Detroit, Flint, Lansing, and Saginaw. If you can't get to any of these locations consider going out in your community on Saturday to a high traffic location and collect some signatures.  On Saturday, volunteers will engage in three activities:

DOOR-TO-DOOR CANVASSING.
Volunteers will visit registered voters at their home asking them to sign a petition.

PETITION GATHERING IN PUBLIC LOCATIONS.
Volunteers will be paired up or grouped in teams of four and sent to pre-scouted locations to collect signatures.

SIGNATURE “DRIVE-THRU” EVENT.
This will take place in Mt Clemens across the street from CWA Local 4008. People will be able to “drive thru” and sign a petition without exiting their vehicle.

We need YOUR HELP at these POJ petition events

AREA LOCATION ADDRESSES:

DETROIT- Detroit Federation of Teachers, 2875 W. Grand Blvd. Detroit

FLINT
- UAW Region 1C, 1940 W Atherton, Flint

LANSING - Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 333, 5405 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., Lansing

MT. CLEMENS - CWA Local 4008, 145 Colonial Ct., Mt. Clemens

WESTERN WAYNE - UAW Region 1A, 9650 Telegraph Rd., Taylor

SAGINAW - UAW Local 467, 2104 Farmer St., Saginaw

You are subscribed to the AFT Michigan E-Mail Activists List.  For additional information about this or other issues please visit the AFT Michigan webpage, the AFT Michigan Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter.

 

Jeff,

With the GOP primary effectively over, Mitt Romney seems to have enough Republican delegate votes to call himself the nominee. We now know what we’re up against in November.

See how Mitt Romney feels about issues important to the middle class. Watch the video.

Romney’s views on public services couldn’t be clearer—they’re in his own words—giving us a glimpse of what a Romney presidency would look like.

A presidential candidate who is on record as being in support of national “right-to-work” legislation, using the Department of Education to go after teachers unions, repealing the Affordable Care Act and passing the Ryan/Republican budget is not a president who stands with the American people.

Do his words match your ideals? Watch the video to find out. 

Mitt Romney has spoken
, making the choice in November clear.

In unity,
John Ost
AFT Political Director

P.S. We will need each and every one of you between now and November. Can we count you in?

 

    
    

“Corporations are people, my friend.”Mitt Romney, Aug. 11, 2011

“Corporations aren’t people. People are people.” —President Barack Obama, May 5, 2012

Jeff,

President Barack Obama officially kicked off his re-election campaign—against Mitt Romney, the person we now know will be the Republican nominee. When we endorsed President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for re-election, we said that this election is not a referendum, it’s a choice: The choice between these two candidates could not be any clearer. And now that the battle—and make no mistake about it, this is a battle for our country’s future—has begun, it is time for all of us to fully commit to working to re-elect President Obama.

Can we count you in?

Simply too much is at stake to do otherwise. President Obama’s record of accomplishments and his commitment to fight for the middle class earned him the AFT’s endorsement in February. The Republican primaries put Romney’s priorities on full view, making it clear that he and President Obama don’t just have different visions for our country’s future, they have different views of who we are as a people.

We will need each and every one of you between now and November. Can we count you in?

 
Although the AFT has not always agreed with the administration, President Obama knows that our country cannot prosper without a strong middle class. And he knows that we can rebuild the middle class by investing in education and job creation, giving everyone a fair shot at success, and ensuring that burdens do not fall disproportionately on our neediest neighbors while tax loopholes protect the wealthy from contributing their fair share.

In the weeks and months ahead, I will be traveling to many of your states—joining you in our campaign work. Your efforts are critical. The AFT has a well-deserved reputation for strong and effective support of the candidates we endorse. Our greatest asset is you, our members. Working together, we will celebrate President Obama’s re-election in November. Can we count you in?
 

Randi
AFT President

 

Jeff, 
Senate Republicans
will vote today against a student loan bill that would keep interest rates from doubling. If Congress doesn’t reach an agreement by July 1 on how to keep student loan interest rates low, students will see their rates rise from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, an average increase of $1,000 for 7.4 million Americans. 
Don’t let Congress double the interest rates for student loans. Tell the Senate that this bill deserves an up-or-down vote.
The Senate version of the bill pays for keeping down student loan interest rates by closing tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy. This isn’t a new tax—it stops wealthy Americans from dodging taxes they are already required to pay. 
We need to act now. Tell your senators that this bill must come to a vote. 

Republicans in Congress have supported the Ryan budget that asks students to pay double their interest rates. Their budget also would slash Pell Grants for millions of students, and would eliminate access to work-study job opportunities for 100,000 students by 2014 in order to fund tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.
It’s time congressional Republicans stop protecting the wealthiest Americans and require them to pay their fair share.
College students and middle-class families should not bare the brunt of rising costs while wealthy individuals and corporations are not held to the same standards. 
Tell the Senate: Don’t double student loan interest rates. 
In unity,
Tor Cowan
AFT Legislative Director

 

Jeff,

College students are graduating in a rising sea of debt, with interest rates for federal student loans set to double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent on July 1 if no action is taken by Congress. The effect will be felt beyond current students and those about to enter college. It also will hurt families struggling to find a way to help these students gain access to higher education.

We are collecting stories about what keeping college affordable means for you, your family, and those you educate and serve. Will you share your story?

A high-quality public education is the gateway to the middle class, and preserving the American dream means keeping college affordable and accessible.

Share your story: How would doubling interest rates for student loans affect you, your family or those you serve?


In unity,
Tor Cowan
AFT Legislative Director

P.S. Have you written your senators about the hikes on student loan interest rates yet? If not, click here to send them a message.

 

Jeff:

Last week, the House Republican majority pushed through a student aid bill that prioritizes wealthy individuals and corporations over students and their families. The Senate is now trying to make it right. Let them know you’re watching.

If Congress doesn’t act by July 1, the interest rate on new student federal loans, called Stafford loans, is set to double automatically from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. This will affect more than 7.4 million students as well as those who are college-bound, increasing their cost by an average of $1,000. Most agree there could hardly be a worse time to double the interest rates on student loans. The issue is: How do we pay for it?

The Senate must pass legislation that keeps interest rates low without cutting vital public services.

There is a right way and a wrong way to address the doubling of student loan interest rates.

  • The right way: The Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012, which will be voted on the week of May 7, would keep college accessible and affordable by requiring wealthy Americans to pay their fair share of taxes, like the rest of us.

  • The wrong way: The Republican-led bill passed last week in the House would eliminate funding from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, sacrificing women’s and children’s preventive healthcare.

Make sure the Senate stands against looming interest hikes that would hurt millions of Americans.

Students are swimming in a rising sea of debt. In April, the nation’s student debt burden crossed the $1 trillion mark—surpassing total national credit card debt. Students are graduating from college with an average of $25,000 in loans to repay. For recent grads, the burden is especially daunting. They face higher rates of unemployment because of the current economy, and low entry-level wages if they are lucky enough to find jobs. For many, loan repayment obligations affect major life decisions, like buying a home and starting a family.

Make sure your senators hear from you, loud and clear, in support of the Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012 before they vote next week.

In unity,
Tor Cowan
AFT Legislative Director

 

Labor@Wayne presents

The Future of Public Sector Unions and

Collective Bargaining

May 21, 2012
12:30pm - 4:15pm
McGregor Memorial Conference Center, Wayne State University

Program:
12:30 - 1p.m.    Conference Registration
1 - 2:15p.m.    Introductions
        Mark Gaffney, Teamsters
        Marick Masters, Labor@Wayne
1:15 - 2:15p.m.    Barry Bluestone, Northeastern University
        Jeff Keefe, Rutgers University
2:15 - 3:30p.m.    Chris Michalakis, Metro Detroit, AFL-CIO
        Herbert Sanders, AFSCME Council 25
        Phil Thompson, SEIU 517
        Diann Woodard, American Federation of School Administrators
3:30 - 4:15p.m.    David Hecker, AFT Michigan, Keynote Speaker

co-sponsors:    Michigan Labor Management Association and
        Metropolitan Detroit Chapter of ASPA

You can RSVP here
For more information contact the Office of Special Events and Services at 313-577-0300

Parking available in Structure #1.
$5 per car. Credit card only.

 

April 2012 Capitol Report - Latest Headlines

To: AFT Michigan Members and Retirees

The April 2012 Capitol Report is now available on the AFT Michigan website.

A .pdf version of the April report may be downloaded by clicking on this link: http://aftmichigan.org/files/capitolAP12.pdf

The current Capitol Report may also be located on the AFT Michigan website at: http://aftmichigan.org/takeaction/capitol/capitol.html

The Capitol Report gives you the latest news out of Lansing on issues the legislature is working on that may effect your work and life.

Here are the headlines in the April Capitol Report:

  • Bill Expands Cyber Schools
  • All Education Budgets Pass House/Senate
  • 2012-2013 K-12 School Aid Budgets - HOUSE and SENATE Comparison
  • 2012-2013 Higher Education Budgets HOUSE and SENATE Comparison
  • 2012-2013 Community College Budget - HOUSE and SENATE Comparison
  • Expanding Dual Enrollment
  • School Aid for Non-public School Students' Instruction

 

We Are The People Michigan

Dear Friends:

In a narrow 56-54 vote, our House of Representatives voted last week to place thousands of Michigan children into “cyber schools,” taking them out of real classrooms and draining as much as $210 million in desperately needed revenue from our public schools.

However, it's not too late to stop this taxpayer rip-off in its tracks.  The Michigan House of Representatives will re-consider SB 619, the cyber schools bill, today, Tuesday, May 1.  Because the original vote was so close, we’ve still got a chance to turn this around.  We need just one Representative to change his or her vote.

You can make a difference by contacting your state representative TODAY.

For-profit cyber schools have no accountability, no track record of success, and no plan to provide comprehensive academic services, transportation, art, music, athletics or special education.

What they do have is plan to milk the taxpayers:  Charge full price for each child enrolled in cyber school, drill them long-distance at a fraction of the cost of a real school… and pocket the difference.

Teachers, parents, student and school officials are united against this wrong-headed move.  So who’s for it -- besides the for-profit companies that will get top dollar for bottom-of-the-barrel services?

Good question – and YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO ASK YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE.

Your state legislator could be the one who makes the difference.  Click here to find his or her phone and email, and please contact him or her right away.  

Urge your Representative to support reconsidering last week's vote by which SB 619 passed and voting NO on SB 619 .  Please make a call or send an email today -- this vote is scheduled for this afternoon, Tuesday, May 1, 2012.

Thanks for all you do,

Todd, Roger and the WATP team 

P.S. If your Representative is already voting the right way thank them and reach out and urge Representative Zorn to change his vote on SB 619.  Zorn was the tie breaking vote last time and we need to let him know he has a second chance on today to do the right thing.

 

(I apologize for the errors and multiple emails - the correct date is TUESDAY, MAY 1, sorry for the confusion - Julie)

  Raise Your Voice for A Better Michigan
Watch Video

Every parent knows the drill:  To raise healthy, active children, we need to limit the time our sons and daughters spend staring at computer, TV, and mobile device screens.

Incredibly, the Michigan legislature is moving in the opposite direction.  In a narrow 56-54 vote, our House of Representatives voted last week to place thousands of Michigan children into “cyber schools,” taking them out of real classrooms and draining as much as $210 million in desperately needed revenue from our public schools.

You can make a difference by contacting your state representative TODAY.

For-profit cyber schools have no accountability, no track record of success, and no plan to provide comprehensive academic services, transportation, art, music, athletics or special education.

What they do have is plan to milk the taxpayers:  Charge full price for each child enrolled in cyber school, drill them long-distance at a fraction of the cost of a real school… and pocket the difference.

Teachers, parents, student and school officials are united against this wrong-headed move.  So who’s for it -- besides the for-profit companies that will get top dollar for bottom-of-the-barrel services?

Good question – and YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO ASK YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE.

The Michigan House of Representatives will re-consider SB619, the cyber schools bill, on Tuesday, May 1.  Because the original vote was so close, we’ve still got a chance to turn this around.  If just one legislator changes his or her vote, we can stop this taxpayer rip-off in its tracks.

Your state legislator could be the one who makes the difference.  Click here to find his or her phone and email, and please contact him or her right away.   

Urge your Representative to vote NO on SB 619.  Please make a call or send an email today -- this vote is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, May 1.

Thanks for all you do

Jeff,

The House vote this morning didn’t go down as we had hoped. The Republican majority pushed through a bill that protects wealthy oil corporations over the middle class. There is a wrong way and a right way to address the doubling of student loan interest rates from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, and they did it the wrong way.

Make sure your community knows the importance of this issue. Send a letter to your local newspaper’s editor.

Rather than finding common ground on how to pay for the cost of keeping interest rates low, House Republicans decided to rob Peter to pay Paul by eliminating the entire funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund. This fund was created to help prevent disease, detect it early and manage conditions before they become severe. Women, in particular, will benefit from this fund, which would provide for hundreds of thousands of screenings for breast and cervical cancer.

How would this affect you and members of your communities? Send a letter to the editor to help raise awareness.

The House and Senate Republicans are playing politics and not providing a serious response to the problem facing America’s college students.

The Senate has a chance to do this the right way. Senate Democrats have proposed closing tax loopholes to require the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their fair share. The students and families this bill was designed to help should not be forced to trade their health in return.

Send a letter to the editor and make sure the people in your community know the facts.


In unity,
Tor Cowan
AFT Legislative Director

 

On Thursday, May 10th and 11th, please join:

Bob King, President, United Auto Workers
Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club
Leo Gerard, President, United Steelworkers
Congressman Hansen Clarke
Daniel Poneman, Deputy Secretary, US Department of Energy
David Hecker, President, American Federation of Teachers Michigan


And other labor, environmental and green business leaders at the Detroit Marriott for the 2012 Good Jobs Green Jobs Midwestern Regional Conference the nation’s premier event for sharing ideas and strategies on building the green economy — and creating good jobs along the way.

The Midwest is a leader in clean energy and good, green job creation, showing that building a clean energy economy creates jobs, improves the environment, and stimulates the economy. While great strides have been made, there are still huge steps to take to ensure we are creating a sustainable environment and economy for future generations. Register today!

How can businesses capitalize on clean energy advances in the Midwest? Is our workforce prepared to meet the demands of clean energy employers? What sectors are expected to gain good, green jobs?  These are some of the questions that will be discussed at the 2012 Good Jobs, Green Jobs Midwestern Regional Conference, May 10-11, in Detroit. Click here to register.

For two days, Conference-goers can take part in exciting plenaries and more than 40 workshops focused on topics ranging from clean energy manufacturing to state and local initiatives to green infrastructure and transportation. Take a minute to view the workshops.

Be part of the effort to build a green economy by registering to attend the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Midwestern Regional Conference today.

 

  

HOW DO YOU STACK UP TO NEXT A CEO?

Millions of workers remain unemployed. But that didn’t stop S&P 500 companies from raising CEO pay by almost 14 percent in 2011—to nearly $13 million on average—while shipping jobs overseas.

Want to learn more about the deplorable practices of the 1% and see how your pay stacks up next to the richest CEOs in your state?

Go to www.PayWatch.org now.

   

Dear Jeff,

I wanted to give you a chance to be one of the first people to check out the new AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch website—this year’s version is called CEO Pay and the 99%. It’s your one-stop shop for the most recent information on out-of-control CEO pay and what you can do to stop it.

Go to www.PayWatch.org now to search through our updated database on CEO pay, compare your pay with CEOs in your state and across the country and share the shocking results with your friends and family.

At www.PayWatch.org, we highlight both the unbelievable overall statistics and examples of corporate greed run amok, like Verizon.  

From 2007 to 2011, Verizon’s cash holdings and short-term investments grew to $14 billion, a more than 300 percent increase since before the financial crisis at the end of 2007. Meanwhile, Verizon thinned its employee rolls by 17.5 percent.

Go to www.PayWatch.org to check out some of the worst examples of CEO pay gone wild and help spread the word
.

Here are some truly shocking facts:

•    The average CEO now makes an astonishing 380 times what the average worker makes. That ratio used to be 42 times in 1980.

•    The average CEO of an S&P 500 company got a nearly 14 percent increase last year. They now make an average of almost $13 million—while millions of jobless workers spent countless hours searching for work. Many jobs were shipped overseas, and people fortunate enough to keep a job were lucky to get a basic cost-of-living increase.

•    S&P 500 companies last year had more than $1 trillion amassed in cash. That’s enough money to create a living-wage job, for a year, for every single American who is unemployed, underemployed or has stopped looking for work.

It’s hard to believe. Click here to see for yourself and share the astonishing facts with your friends and family.

Runaway CEO pay isn’t just bad for our economy, it’s bad for the morale of working families, too. All workers, from the executive suite down to the shop floor, contribute to making a company successful. But these corporations are buying into the myth that the success of a corporation is the result of its CEO alone.  

Without the painter, office assistant, welder, electrician and hundreds of millions of workers who work every day to support their families and keep our economy going, our society could not work.

We hope you will visit www.PayWatch.org to help us shine a light on the egregious practices of only rewarding CEOs for the work of many.

America can continue with failed policies that offer increasing rewards to corporate profiteers who cut jobs and load up their own pockets—like Mitt Romney did when he was at Bain Capital (1)—or we can work together to make our economy work for everyone. A simple place to start is getting CEO pay under control.

Thank you for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

(1) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577140850713493694.html

 


  

URGENT

Protect workers' rights from corporate politicians.

Write your senators NOW.


Share on Facebook and Twitter

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Dear Jeff,

Corporate-bought politicians are taking aim at workers again. And this time, they’ve got fair elections for workers in the crosshairs.

In December, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—the federal agency that protects workers’ rights—issued a rule that modernizes the NLRB election process and helps ensure workers have a fair way to form a union without unfair delays and manipulation of the process by employers.

Now, anti-worker politicians in Congress are trying to ram through a resolution to undo this modest step forward for the 99%.

The resolution is headed for a vote in the U.S. Senate this week, and we need your voice in this debate. Please take 30 seconds to write your senators NOW.

By limiting delays and frivolous litigation, the NLRB’s rule helps ensure that workers who want to vote to form their own union have a fair opportunity to do so.

From the day a worker is hired, companies have every opportunity to communicate with employees about the pros and cons of having a union. But extremists have pushed a congressional resolution that would overturn the NLRB’s new election procedures: They’re trying to pay back their corporate donors by slashing workers’ rights on the job once again.

Let your senators know that voters won’t stand for this senseless attack.

The stakes are too high for working families to stay on the sidelines. If corporate-backed politicians pass this week’s attack on fair elections, they’ll:

  • Resurrect the barriers workers face when they want a simple up-or-down vote on forming a union, giving an unfair advantage to law-breaking CEOs.
     
  • Encourage costly delays and litigation, paving the way for employers who want to retaliate against workers.
     
  • Make it even harder for employees to form a union and negotiate for fair pay and benefits, weakening the middle class and our chances at a brighter economic future.

From statehouses across the country to Congress, the forces of the 1% are openly and brazenly waging war on workers. This attack on the NLRB is just the latest in this relentless series of nationally coordinated assaults on workers and collective bargaining rights. Rather than working together to create jobs, restore tax fairness and jumpstart our economy, extreme legislators are pushing divisive policies that put workers' rights on the chopping block.

Corporate politicians won’t let up until even the most modest workplace protections have been eliminated. But you can help stop this attack in its tracks.

Tell your senators: Don’t reverse progress for workers.

Thank you for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

 

Dear Jeff,

Warren Buffett, like many of his fellow millionaires and billionaires, pays a lower percent of his income in taxes than his secretary pays. Meanwhile, over the last 30 years, tax rates for middle-class families have barely budged. With Tax Day tomorrow, we are reminded how unfair our current system really is. Buffett and President Obama agree. That’s why the president has proposed the “Buffett Rule,” which will be voted on today.

Call your senators before the vote this afternoon, and urge them to support moving the Buffett Rule forward in the Senate.

According to a new Gallup Poll, a majority of Americans support the Buffett Rule. One survey found that two-thirds of millionaires support it too. The Buffett Rule will ensure that if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle-class families do. If you make less than $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes won’t go up.

Urge your senators to support the Buffett Rule by voting to allow the Senate to take an up-or-down vote on the bill and not delay its consideration on procedural grounds. Make the call now.

As President Obama said in his weekly address, “As many Americans rush to file their taxes this weekend, it’s worth pointing out that we’ve got a tax system that doesn’t always uphold the principle of everyone doing their part. This is not just about fairness. This is also about growth. It’s about being able to make the investments we need to strengthen our economy and create jobs.”

In unity,
John Ost
AFT Political Director

P.S. Want to see how many millionaires pay a lower effective tax rate than you? Click here to find out.

 

Dear Jeff,

With tax day coming next week (April 17), don’t you think everyone should pay their fair share? President Obama thinks so. Right now, many high-income Americans pay less in taxes than middle-class Americans do. That’s why the president has proposed the “Buffett Rule,” also known as the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 which will be voted on early next week. 

Do you think millionaires and billionaires should pay their fair share? Tell your senators to pass the “Buffett Rule”.

The Buffett Rule will ensure that if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. If you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn’t go up.

Send a message to your senators and urge them to support the Buffett Rule.

Millionaires and billionaires are paying less in taxes now than they did 50 years ago. We simply can’t afford to keep doing this when we have to educate our children, care for our senior citizens and protect our college students from soaring student loan rates. Those who are doing well should pay their fair share.

By tax time next year, we can make sure the wealthiest Americans are paying their fair share. Write your senators today.

As President Obama said, “We can either settle for an economy where a few people do really well and everyone else struggles to get by, or we can build an economy where hard work pays off again—where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules.” Make sure the Senate hears us loud and clear.

In unity,
John Ost
AFT Political Director

P.S. Curious to see how many millionaires pay a lower effective tax rate than you? Click here to find out.

 

  

Join Us on Tax Day

This Tax Day, make it clear you support economic fairness and want our lawmakers to put our country’s needs ahead of Tea Party politics and fat-cat corporate donors.

Click here now to find a Tax Day event in your area.

   

Dear Jeff,

Hi, I’m Andy Richards, the latest addition to the AFL-CIO Digital Strategies team. I’m writing today with an important request. Can you join a Tax Day action in your area?

Working people work hard, play by the rules and pay our taxes each year—but some politicians think it’s OK to exempt the 1% from the costs of building a stronger economy that works for everyone.

Find a Tax Day action in your area: Help stand up for an economy that works for the 99%.

Did you know Mitt Romney paid an effective tax rate last year of just 15.4 percent of his income? That’s a lower tax rate than a family making $50,000 per year.1

Early next week, the Senate is expected to vote on the Buffett Rule, which would make sure millionaires and billionaires don’t pay lower tax rates than their secretaries.2

The Buffett Rule is a very modest first step toward restoring some fairness to our tax system. But Romney opposes the Buffett rule—he wants Congress to keep coddling the super-rich. And next week, extreme right-wing politicians in Washington are getting ready to follow his lead and block this commonsense plan to make sure millionaires and billionaires stop getting sweetheart treatment.

On Tax Day, help send the message that everyone should pay a fair share in taxes.

Click here now to find a Tax Day action in your area.

Working families across the country will join Tax Day actions on Tuesday, April 17. Will you be there? Help build momentum for restoring tax fairness. Maybe your community will play a game of “Corporate Tax-Dodger Ball,” as St. Louis is. Or a “Three Stooges Tax Day Rally” action like one coming up in Florida. Whatever the action, hardworking people like you will be out in the streets on Tax Day to tell Congress to put our country’s needs ahead of partisan politics and corporate donors.

Together, we can send politicians a strong message and highlight unfair tax policies that give the 1%, like Mitt Romney, huge tax breaks and let rich corporations like GE pay $0 in taxes—while working families are left holding the bag.

Join us on Tuesday: Find a Tax Day action in your area.

It’s time to restore a strong middle class and bring about broadly shared prosperity. To do it, working people need to raise our voices now—and keep speaking out—to influence the national debate.

Thanks for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Andy Richards

1 www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/romneys-15-problem-he-pays-the-same-tax-rate-as-a-family-making-50-000/251536/
2 http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/biden-says-republicans-want-a-romney-rule/

 

Jeff,

Michigan politicians are on the verge of making a big mistake--diverting our tax dollars away from public schools and into the hands of unaccountable, for-profit corporations. Under the proposed Senate Bill 619, Michigan would allow more so-called "cyber schools" to take over education from our neighborhood schools.

The fact is, these "cyber-schools" don't work--they don't deliver a better education to kids and they don't save the state money. The only real winners from shifting kids from neighborhood schools to "cyber-schools" are the big-money corporations that profit from these online programs.

Tell your state legislators: Put kids first--not corporations.


Let's call this what it is: an attack on Michigan schools and our kids by out-of-state corporations. The only question is why Michigan legislators--the people who should be working for us--are letting it happen. They need to listen to you, not big corporate donors.

The House Education Committee has already passed a bill increasing "cyber-schools," turning our tax dollars into corporate profits at the expense of Michigan's kids and Michigan's future.

Tell your state legislators not to put corporate profits ahead of the education our kids need.


In solidarity,

Karla Swift
President, Michigan State AFL-CIO

Dear Jeff,

With tax day coming next week (April 17), don’t you think everyone should pay their fair share? President Obama thinks so. Right now, many high-income Americans pay less in taxes than middle-class Americans do. That’s why the president has proposed the “Buffett Rule,” also known as the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 which will be voted on early next week. 

Do you think millionaires and billionaires should pay their fair share? Tell your senators to pass the “Buffett Rule”.

The Buffett Rule will ensure that if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. If you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn’t go up.

Send a message to your senators and urge them to support the Buffett Rule.

Millionaires and billionaires are paying less in taxes now than they did 50 years ago. We simply can’t afford to keep doing this when we have to educate our children, care for our senior citizens and protect our college students from soaring student loan rates. Those who are doing well should pay their fair share.

By tax time next year, we can make sure the wealthiest Americans are paying their fair share. Write your senators today.

As President Obama said, “We can either settle for an economy where a few people do really well and everyone else struggles to get by, or we can build an economy where hard work pays off again—where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules.” Make sure the Senate hears us loud and clear.

In unity,
John Ost
AFT Political Director

P.S. Curious to see how many millionaires pay a lower effective tax rate than you? Click here to find out.

 

  

Don’t you dare,
T-Mobile!

Urgent: T-Mobile is planning to cut 3,300 U.S. jobs—on top of thousands they’ve already offshored. Make your voice heard.

Click here to send a message to T-Mobile’s CEO Philipp Humm urging him to keep U.S. call centers open and save thousands of family-sustaining jobs.

   

Dear Jeff,

Last month, T-Mobile announced plans to close seven major call centers nationwide.

T-Mobile’s decision means cutting 3,300 American jobs, on top of hundreds already lost because of T-Mobile’s downsizing—and 6,000 lost because of outsourcing to the Philippines and Honduras.

Click here to send a message to T-Mobile’s CEO Philipp Humm urging him to keep T-Mobile’s U.S. call centers open and bring back thousands of family-sustaining jobs.

We will deliver your letter—along with tens of thousands of others—next week at the T-Mobile headquarters in Washington State.

T-Mobile’s workers and customers are connected—and if this job-cutting plan goes through, both lose. Each lost T-Mobile job means another working family facing an uncertain future—and many customers facing uncertain service.

T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm’s plan to lay off thousands is bad for T-Mobile workers who take pride in their work, bad for T-Mobile customers who count on top-notch service and bad for the U.S. economy.

Send T-Mobile’s CEO a message today and tell him to keep U.S. call centers open—and we’ll make sure he hears your message next week.

When customers buy a T-Mobile cell phone, they count on T-Mobile workers to provide top-notch service. And T-Mobile workers do. They take pride in their work.


We know that dedicated service professionals whom T-Mobile customers count on—folks from Thornton, Colo., to Brownsville, Texas—will lose their jobs on June 22 if this plan goes forward. But we also know that if enough of us stand together and raise our voices, we can force the company to reconsider.

Please make your voice heard today, and we’ll deliver your letter on April 16 in Bellevue, Wash.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

 

QUOTES:___________________________________________________________________

"Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves."
Ernest Dimnet

"
Education is a progressive discovery of your own ignorance."
Will Durant

"Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army."
Edward Everett

 
"To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive
them is cruelty." Maximilien Robespierre

"It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label." Barack Obama

"If I went to work in a factory the first thing I'd do is join a union."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

























































            

  Current News and information Continued:

 

Do you care about your retirement security?

Dear Jeff,

  Raise Your Voice for A Better Michigan
Watch Video

If so, and you're a school employee on break this week, please join us in Lansing Wednesday morning to oppose Senate Bill 1040, which would increase costs and reduce benefits for both current and future retirees.

Please reply to this message if you can be there!

Press Conference on Public School Pension Legislation
When: Wed. April 11, 9am
Where: Room 402 & 403 Capitol Building, Lansing, MI

Senate Committee Hearing on SB 1040
When: 10am
Where: Boji Tower Senate Hearing Room (across street from Capitol)


AFT Michigan has helped pull together the Coalition for a Secure Retirement, which includes all the major unions representing school employees, and together we will be calling attention to the fact that increasing what retirees on fixed incomes pay for health care is NOT FAIR! Pulling the rug out from under current employees who have been contributing to their pension is NOT FAIR! Legislators need to hear that breaking promises to school employees is unfair and unacceptable.

Will you join us in Lansing Wednesday? Hit reply to RSVP.

 

Retiree Alert: SB 1040 PROPOSES STEEP HIKE YOUR PREMIUM COSTS

If you are a retiree who receives health care benefits from MPSERS, you have every right to be alarmed. SB 1040 proposes a substantial increase in what you currently pay for your retiree health benefits. In some cases, it nearly doubles it. For pre-Medicare retirees, the amount that will be deducted from your pension every month would increase as follows depending on your coverage:

  • JUST YOURSELF: DEDUCTION WOULD INCREASE FROM $99.90 TO $129.04
  • SELF AND SPOUSE: DEDUCTION WOULD INCREASE FROM $155.25 TO $239.74
  • SELF AND CHILD(REN): DECUTION WOULD INCREASE FROM $124.25 TO $177.38
  • SELF, SPOUSE & CHILD: DEDUCTION WOULD INCREASE FROM $179.59 TO $288.43

These amounts do not even include the additional $12 per month that those in the Master Health Care Plan pay for prescription drug coverage. And they fail to reflect the increases in costs that have happened nearly annually, such as the $100 annual increases this year in both your medical coinsurance maximums and your deductibles! It is unprecedented for legislators to change laws regarding retirement benefits in ways that affect people who have already retired and are on fixed incomes. Yet, that is what SB 1040 does. If it passes as introduced, your monthly pensions will see a big bite taken out of them.

If this proposal concerns you, come to Lansing on Wednesday, April 11, where the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Retirement is taking testimony on SB 1040, a bill that would make this and many changes that will negatively affect school employees who have yet to retire. The Subcommittee meets from 10-12:00 and from 1:00 onwards in the Senate Hearing Room of the Boji Tower, 124 West Allegan Street, Lansing - just across the street from the State Capitol.

At this hearing, we expect much of the morning will be taken up with staff overview and questions from the Subcommittee to the Office of Retirement Services. Then testimony is opened up to the public. Anyone can testify - all you have to do is fill out a card with your name and address on it. In general, people who testify are asked to keep their comments under 5 minutes. If you would like to tell the subcommittee how SB 1040 will affect you and your family, all you have to do is show up and request a chance to talk. Or, just show up and help AFT Michigan fill the room with active members and retirees, all having the same message: IT'S NOT FAIR!

And...don't forget to let your state senator and state representative know how you feel about SB 1040. Remind them that your pensions are now subject to state income tax, so increasing what you have to pay for health benefits is NOT FAIR!

Not sure of how to contact your state legislators? Go to the "Get Active" section of the AFT Michigan website and click on 'Find your Elected Officials', or go to www.legislature.mi.gov

 

Dear Jeff,

The Michigan Legislature is once again proposing cuts to our school employee pension benefits. Senate Bill 1040 increase the amount current employees pay into the system and double the monthly health care premiums for retirees!

These cuts are being discussed in Lansing on Wednesday, April 10. Please reply to this email if you can join us at the Capitol to make your voice heard.

This is unfair, particularly for retirees who thought they had a clear picture of what their income and expenses would be and already had their pensions taxed by this Legislature last year.

Please call your State Senator and State Representative today and tell them to oppose SB 1040 and any further cuts to our retirement security. You can find your legislators by clicking here.

Please let me know if you can join us in Lansing the morning of April 10,

Dave Dobbie

You are receiving this message because you have requested to receive email from the AFT Michigan Retiree Network. You may also keep up with legislative, political, and other information of interest to retirees on the AFT Michigan Retiree Network website, the AFT Michigan Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter.

If you no longer wish to receive these messages click here to unsubscribe

 

  

The USDA wants to cut corners and risk putting unsafe chicken on the market and on your kitchen table with their new “dirty chicken” rule—all to save a quick buck.

Meanwhile, billionaires and corporations are getting tax breaks. It’s shocking.

Click here now to sign the petition against the “dirty chicken” rule.

   

Dear Jeff,

I hope you don’t mind a little salmonella and E. coli in your chicken. Because if the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) gets its way, chicken contaminated with disease, feathers and other really disgusting stuff could be on its way to your dinner plate within the year.

We count on USDA inspectors to help us keep our families safe and healthy. But the USDA wants to save money by throwing about 1,000 of them out of work.

Hurry: Sign our petition against the “dirty chicken” rule today, and tell the USDA inspectors they can count on us, too.

About 3,000 Americans die from food-borne illnesses each year. But instead of doing more to protect our families, the USDA is taking budget cuts out on the inspectors we need. Not only would about 1,000 get the boot—the inspectors who keep their jobs would be told to inspect 175 chickens per minute. That’s more than three chickens per second!

Working people like us, and like USDA inspectors, take pride in our work. We work hard and make a difference. USDA’s “dirty chicken” rule would take that away while endangering our families.

Sign the petition against the “dirty chicken” rule TODAY.

This week, food inspection workers (members of the AFGE) rallied outside the USDA to oppose this frightening measure—but a rally alone won’t stop this plan. We need massive public pressure.

This new inspection system for poultry slaughter plants is another example of attacks on everyday working people while billionaires and corporations are getting tax breaks. And this time, it’s putting our kids and families at risk while taking jobs away from people we count on. It’s shocking.

Tell the USDA you won’t settle for dirty chicken. Sign the petition today.

Only by standing together can we save the jobs of hundreds of federal workers who we count on to protect our families.

Thanks for the work you do.

In solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

P.S. In his new book, Rebuild the Dream, Van Jones, a former Obama White House adviser on green jobs and an award-winning human rights activist, maps out how to turn Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s and the American Dream into reality.

Click here to learn more and order your copy.

 

March 2012 Capitol Report & Education Budgets

To: AFT Michigan Members and Retirees

The March 2012 Capitol Report is now available on the AFT Michigan website.

A .pdf version of the March report may be downloaded by clicking on this link: http://aftmichigan.org/files/capitolMR12.pdf

The current Capitol Report may also be located on the AFT Michigan website at: http://aftmichigan.org/takeaction/capitol/capitol.html

The Capitol Report gives you the latest news out of Lansing on issues the legislature is working on that may effect your work and life.

Here are the headlines in the March Capitol Report:

  • M.P.S.E.R.S. Proposal For School Employees
  • Education Budgets Go to Full Appropriations Committees
  • Union Dues Payroll Deduction Signed into Law
  • Graduate Student Union Ban Signed into Law
  • Counseling Student May Refuse Services
  • Autism Coverage Bills Ordered Enrolled
  • Election Reform Legislation on the Move
  • Kindergarten Enrollment Age
  • Online Posting of School Employees' Compensation & Contracts
  • Legislation Introduced between February 20 and March 31, 2012
  • Mark Your Calendar! Lobby Day - MAY 22, 2012

 

Dear Jeff,

Voting is a big topic this year, but here’s one vote you don’t have to wait until November to cast— vote today for your favorite AFT Everyday Hero!

Read about fellow members like Nancy Wolff, who started Books Behind Bars, a book club program for female prison inmates, and who recently liquidated her home and used the proceeds from the sale of her possessions to buy more books for the program.

And Ryan Marquis from Alaska, who volunteered—not once, but twice—to go to Wisconsin last year to help combat Gov. Scott Walker’s ambush on public employees and their unions.

These are just two of the inspiring AFT Everyday Hero stories that epitomize the spirit of public service, camaraderie and compassion that inspires us all to make a difference in our chosen fields and in our communities.

Today through April 29, vote for your favorite AFT Everyday Hero.

The semifinalist who gets the most votes in each division will be named his or her division’s 2012 Everyday Hero and will be honored at this year’s AFT convention.

 Vote now!

We would like to congratulate everyone who was chosen as an AFT Everyday Hero semifinalist. And thank you to those of you who took the time to nominate your colleagues as AFT Everyday Heroes. We could not recognize and honor these exemplary members without you!

In unity,

Kris Havens
AFT Communications Director

 

  

OUTRAGE

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) inspector general reports Romney adviser Peter Schaumber was provided internal, confidential, attorney-client privileged information that he used to support his business practice and attack the NLRB.

Demand that Mitt Romney fire Peter Schaumber immediately.

   

Dear Jeff,

Mitt Romney’s labor adviser, Peter Schaumber, has gone too far. The inspector general of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that improper, unethical disclosures of privileged information to Schaumber were used to benefit his consulting practice and attack the NLRB—the federal agency tasked with protecting workers’ rights.1

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, says the concerns raised in the inspector general’s report are “very serious and involve potential criminal implications.2

How candidate Romney responds to these findings is a test of his character. Will Romney embrace Washington insiders who trade on confidential and even attorney-client privileged information? Or will he demand they abide by the same ethical standards the rest of us—the 99%—pride ourselves on and expect others to live up to?

Please join the AFL-CIO in demanding that candidate Romney renounce Peter Schaumber’s involvement with these ethical breaches and fire him immediately.

According to the report of the NLRB’s Office of the Inspector General and news reports, here’s what we know about Romney adviser Peter Schaumber:

  • He was named to the NLRB by President George W. Bush and served until Aug. 27, 2010. After he left the agency, Schaumber marketed himself as a “consultant” with “[NLRB] agency connections.” During that time, he did press work to attack the NLRB and the modest workplace protections workers have.2
     
  • Schaumber benefited from the improper and unethical receipt of confidential, inside information to support his anti-worker consulting business and his press work aimed at giving the NLRB a bad name. The inappropriate disclosures were made to Schaumber from his former staffer, Terence Flynn—who remained at the NLRB and became a board member.1

  • Flynn acted as Schaumber’s mole inside the agency, feeding him internal, confidential, attorney-client privileged information. According to the IG report, this broke government ethics rules. Flynn needs to resign immediately, and Romney needs to hold Schaumber accountable.1,3

Join the AFL-CIO in calling on candidate Romney to immediately dismiss Schaumber from his campaign.

This funneling of privileged information is an outrageous example of how the 1% gets things done at the 99%’s expense. If candidate Romney allows Peter Schaumber to remain as an adviser, it will speak volumes about the value he places on ethics in government officials.

Merely firing Schaumber isn’t enough: Candidate Romney needs to make it clear his campaign will not tolerate those who benefit from unethical conduct.

Thank you for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

1    http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/
files/documents/112/pdf/letters/DOCFlynnTransmittal.PDF

2   
http://www.salon.com/2012/03/27/team_romneys_alleged_labor_mole/singleton/
3    http://www.aflcio.org/Press-Room/Press-Releases/Statement-by-AFL-CIO-President-
Richard-Trumka-On-Ethical-Violations-by-NLRB-Member-Terence-Flynn

 

Dear Jeff,

Last week, thousands of AFT activists pledged to stand against Rep. Paul Ryan's reckless budget plan that would hurt Americans and our struggling economy. Today, you can add your voice to those who are urging their U.S. representatives to oppose the budget resolution, which the House Budget Committee has passed.

Call your representative today.


The Republicans' fiscal year 2013 budget resolution fails to offer a sensible path forward for creating jobs, rebuilding the middle class, caring for our most vulnerable citizens and dealing with our long-term economic stability. Instead, it prioritizes tax breaks for upper-income Americans and corporations, while dramatically cutting discretionary funds that support education, training and health initiatives that are essential to educating our children and helping our economy grow. What's more, the budget resolution would end Medicare as we know it and leave seniors without access to affordable, high-quality healthcare; it also would make attending college more costly. The resolution would do nothing to help Americans find good jobs, keep their homes and ensure their children have a better and brighter future.

Call your representative and urge him or her to oppose the Republicans' fiscal year 2013 budget resolution.

The American people can't afford a reckless economic plan that says you're on your own unless you're wealthy or a big corporation. Instead, we need a bold economic vision that is rooted in rebuilding the middle class, strengthening our public schools and our democracy, and ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at success. Call today.

In unity,
Tor Cowan
AFT Legislative Director

 

  Raise Your Voice for A Better Michigan
Watch Video



Legislation has been proposed for a major overhaul of the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS).  If passed in its present form, Senate Bill 1040 will slash public school employee pensions, increase retiree health care cost, and cut health care benefits for FUTURE HIRES, CURRENT EMPLOYEES AND CURRENT RETIREES.

This legislation is being rushed through the process.  Proponents have planned legislative hearing starting as soon as they return from their spring break.  The bill could be signed into law as early as the end of May.  Now is the time to act!

Many people have been emailing and calling with questions about how this legislation will affect their current or planned retirement.  I would suggest if you have questions about this bill that you CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR and your STATE REPRESENTATIVE!  They need to understand that what they are doing will impact real people, not “public school employees.”  If they are forced to answer questions from their constituents perhaps they will gain a better understanding of what they are being asked to vote for.  So this time I don’t want you to just call and ask them to vote NO on the bill, I want you to force the legislators and their staff to answer your specific retirement questions and concerns.

Senate Bill 1040 “fixes” the retirement system in a way that will hurt not only those who are mid-career; it will hurt some of the neediest workers and the elderly.  Unfortunately it doesn’t stand alone; it’s one more in a string of laws, and proposed laws, directly aimed at weakening collective bargaining, hurting middle-class families, and hurting teachers and other education workers in the public school system.

It is time to push back –

Call your legislators – they need to hear from real people who will be affected by this.

Contribute to the PAC Fund – if we don’t like the decisions coming out of Lansing then we need to change who is making the decisions.  Use the button at the top or send a check!

Sign the Protect Our Jobs collective bargaining petitions - please contact your local union or email Nikhol Atkins at AFT Michigan if you need petitions.

We can stop this kind of legislation from happening, but only if we can either convince the current legislators that it is a bad idea, or replace them with someone new in November.

Here is additional information on SB 1040 –

Section analysis of SB 1040


MPSERS changes in bullet point form


MPSPRS pension background


Press Release quoting John Olekszyk, Chairperson of the AFT Michigan Retiree Chapter

 

We Are The People Michigan

Dear Friend,

The next time you visit a loved one in the hospital, ask their nurse how many patients he or she is caring for, and pay close attention to the answer. If it’s more than four and your loved one is on an acute care unit, your loved one’s chances of infection, injury or death increase dramatically.
 
As a Registered Nurse, I see firsthand how collective bargaining directly impacts patients and quality of care. Collective bargaining is a vital tool to ensure patient safety, by requiring safe levels of patient-to-caregiver ratios.
 
But collective bargaining is under attack in Michigan. 
 
State politicians want to strip away critical workers’ rights – including collective bargaining. To me, collective bargaining is a life or death issue. When health care professionals sit down to negotiate a contract, the No. 1 topic is the ratio of caregivers to patients.
 
Take away collective bargaining, and you take away an important safety net for patients. For me, it’s about protecting your loved ones and making sure they get the care they need.
 
It’s also about protecting the middle class. Collective bargaining gives all workers a voice, and the ability to come together to negotiate a fair contract.
 Over the past year, state politicians have moved one anti-worker measure after another, doing nothing to help put Michigan back to work. Now more than ever, workers need the right to speak up and protect our wages and benefits.
Click here to join the fight to protect collective bargaining.
 
Collective bargaining helps protect our jobs, our wages and benefits, and our safety on the job – as well as the safety of my patients. Working men and women in Michigan like you and me can’t afford to sit back and do nothing while our rights are under attack. 
 Sincerely,
John Armelagos
Registered Nurse
Ann Arbor
 P.S. Have you signed the petition to get the Protect Our Jobs amendment on the ballot in November? Click here to sign up for more info.

 

AFT Michigan Retirees
retirees.aftmichigan.org

Here's what's new on the AFT Michigan Retiree website

Information at your fingertips
From the 'AFT Retiree Email March 2012'

 Wider Opportunities for Women has unveiled its new Economic Security Database, which provides local information on how much families and older adults need to make ends meet.

 In his new book, Rethinking Aging: Growing Old and Living Well in an Overtreated Society, 69-year-old Nortin Hadler, M.D., turns his attention to older Americans and the challenging medical decisions they face. He says seniors should re-evaluate the need for popular medical treatments.

 Most U.S. adults say they want to cut spending, but they don't want to cut Social Security, federal education aid or healthcare. See the results of a new poll.

Learn more about these and other current topics of interest to AFT Michigan Retirees at the AFT Michigan Retiree Network website.

 

Dear Jeff,


Yesterday, the House of Representatives Budget Committee chairman, Paul Ryan, put forth a budget proposal that continues the cuts-only approach to our economy at a time when our children and families continue to struggle to get by.

The Ryan Republican budget prioritizes huge tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations, while likely cutting money from public education programs such as Title I that go directly to support low-income children in the classroom. It would end Medicare as we know it and leave seniors without access to affordable, high-quality healthcare, and it would make college more costly. It would do nothing to help Americans find good jobs, keep their homes, and ensure our children have a better and brighter future.

Will you stand with us by contacting your representative next week to express your opposition to this dangerous plan?

The American people can’t afford a reckless economic plan that says you’re on your own unless you’re wealthy or a big corporation. Instead, we need a bold economic vision that is rooted in rebuilding the middle class, strengthening our public schools and our democracy, and ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at success.

Pledge to take a stand against a budget that hurts Americans and our already-struggling economy.


In unity,
Tor Cowan
AFT Legislative Director

 

Dear Jeff,

Urgent: Congress is rushing to deregulate Wall Street—pushing a cynically named “JOBS Act.” This bill could pass as early as Monday.

Senate Democrats, including Jack Reed, Carl Levin and Mary Landrieu, have offered the "INVEST in America Act" to amend the "JOBS Act" and make it less harmful. We need to support these amendments while making it clear that working families oppose the so-called JOBS Act bill.

Please urge your senators to vote FOR the "INVEST in America Act" to make the JOBS Act less harmful to workers and consumers—and AGAINST the
cynically named ";JOBS Act" bill.

America needs jobs.
Yet Congress has not yet passed basic legislation like a measure to reauthorize surface transportation programs, which would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Instead, next week Congress once again will look to deregulate Wall Street.

Workers’ retirement savings will be at greater risk of fraud and speculation if securities market deregulation once again is railroaded through Congress. Our economy will be at risk from the folly of policymakers promoting financial bubbles and ignoring the needs of the real economy.

The AFL-CIO calls on Congress to set aside the politics of the 1%, the old game of special favors for Wall Street, and turn to the business of real job creation.

Urge your senators to vote FOR the "INVEST in America Act," which will amend the JOBS Act to make it less harmful to workers and consumers—
and AGAINST the cynically named "JOBS Act" bill.

Thank you for all the work you do.

In Solidarity,

Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

 

 

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

It could not have been a worse day.

The Michigan House and Senate passed legislation that prevents K-12 school districts from deducting dues from paychecks.  That is dues you voted on, authorized to be deducted, and the deduction was bargained with your employer.  It is headed to the Governor for his signature.  If signed into law, and we have no indication that anything else will happen, it takes effect when a collective bargaining agreement expires.

This legislation is clear retaliation for labor going on the offensive yesterday launching our petition drive to protect collective bargaining in the Michigan constitution.  This legislation is designed to cripple AFT and MEA, severely hurt the SEIU and AFSCME, and damage other unions.  There is no other reason for it.  The House Fiscal Agency said the legislation will not save school districts any money.  And the Michigan Association of School Administrators and Michigan Association of School Boards said the legislation was completely unnecessary and worked with us in opposition.   If anyone doubted it before, this legislation makes it crystal clear.  They do not want us to exist.

Also today, the Republicans used trickery worthy of David Copperfield to give immediate effect to the bill stating Graduate Student Research Assistants (GSRAs) are not employees.  The bill passed the Senate last week with immediate effect.  It passed the House last week, but thanks to the Democrats was not given immediate effect.  Today the Senate took the content of this bill, put it in another bill on a different issue, a bill that the House had already given immediate effect, and passed it.  When signed into law it will end our organizing drive among 2,200 University of Michigan GSRAs.

If, or more likely, when these bills are signed into law, we will go to court to challenge their implementation as we believe both are unconstitutional.

Our enemies probably see these bills as the nail in the coffin of our union and organized labor.  They are wrong, dead wrong!  I have no intention of losing this war.  Too many have fought too hard over decades to build our labor movement and secure many of the rights and benefits we have today.  Too many have fought too hard to enhance public education.

My paternal grandfathers came to this country in 1911 and joined the Cap, Hat and Millinery Workers Union.  My dad headed the Insurance Workers Union in his office, and my mom, a member of the Hospital Workers Union in New York, honored her union’s picket line after she was promoted to management and her union struck.  My wife and I met through our AFT local, and Alice spent over 20 years working at the UAW.  And our daughter … when GEO  struck the University of Michigan a few years back I told my then student daughter we would meet at the noon rally and then walk a picket line.  What did she do?  She got up at 4:00 a.m. to join a loading dock picket to stop deliveries.


When my time comes, I have no intention of seeing my grandparents and parents and having to tell them the labor movement in Michigan died on my watch.  I have no intention of our daughter and our sons not having a labor movement.  That’s not going to happen.

On Tuesday, labor launched our petition drive to protect collective bargaining in the Michigan constitution.  Sign a petition, circulate a petition.  They are being delivered to your local union.  When we get the required number of signatures the constitutional amendment will be voted on in November.  And if you have not done so already give to PAC.  We can take back the Michigan House so bills like those that passed today do not see the light of day.  And we must take back the Michigan Supreme Court if our legal challenges in state court stand a chance of succeeding.

In part, today was the most depressing day I have ever spent as a 36 year member of the labor movement.  But you know what, things turned around when I went into our Board room and saw staff packaging up petitions, calling locals, taking petitions out to be signed.  Things turned around when I received the update of our PAC Honor Roll and the pages and pages of members who have contributed from $100 dollars to $1,000 dollars to the AFT MI or their local union PAC.

We lost today, big, big time.  No way around that.  But our labor movement has come too far, has accomplished so much for so many, has been the bedrock of the progressive community for too many decades to ever be counted out.  We will take more hits.  But in the end, we will win.  We will win because of you.  We will win because for our children and our communities we have no other choice.

Thank you for all that you do.

In Solidarity,

David

Dear Jeff,

  Watch Now!
Watch Video

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Raise Your Voice for a Better Michigan!

In the past year, Lansing has slashed education budgets to give tax breaks to corporations. Limits have been placed on our ability to come together to collectively bargain our wages, benefits, working conditions and even evaluations. Many members are having 3% taken out of their checks for retiree health care; and if you have health care, you are likely paying more under the “80/20” or “hard cap” law. All of these things affect your ability to take care of your family and do your job. We try and stop these things by lobbying the Legislature and when we need to, we go to the courts. But the reality is that if we don’t like WHAT is happening in Lansing, then we need to change WHO is in Lansing making those decisions.

Please make a contribution to the AFT Michigan Political Action Committee today!

The AFT Michigan PAC supports candidates who support our issues and are running in competitive districts. It is funded by members making voluntary contributions, since no dues money can be used to financially support candidates. This year we will be focusing on electing 10 new friends in the Michigan House and 3 Supreme Court justices. (The Michigan Senate and the Governor are not up for election in 2012.) In order to do that, we need your contribution to the AFT Michigan PAC.

Please help elect those who support school employees, public education and higher education!

Again, if we don’t like what they are doing in Lansing then we need to change who is in Lansing. If every full-time dues payer makes a contribution of $1 per week and all half and quarter-time dues payers donated $.50 a week we could make a large impact on who gets elected this fall. Think about the effect of donating a $1 or fifty-cents a week on your life. Think about the effect of having the 3% deducted, paying more for benefits, the pay freeze or pay cut you had to agree to because of state budget cuts in education. Isn’t this small contribution to the AFT MI PAC worth the investment to change who is making those decisions?

We have tried to make it as easy as possible for you to contribute. By using the link you can make a one-time or on-going contribution to the AFT MI PAC using a credit card or an Electronic Fund Transfer from your checking account. This is done through a secure server and your information will not be shared with anyone.

We appreciate all you do for your students. Isn’t it time you did something for yourself and your family? Making a contribution to the AFT Michigan PAC so that we can help elect folks who respect educators and support Prek-12 public education is critical to you, your family and the future of Michigan. Please make a contribution to the AFT MI PAC today.

 

 

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This site was last updated 05/18/12